This invention relates to polyolefin backing materials for tufted surface coverings such as carpets and upholstery fabrics. In its preferred aspects, the invention relates to woven and nonwoven polyolefin materials to which may be tufted face yarns, and to the resulting surface coverings.
Polyolefin films and woven or nonwoven fabrics are increasingly being used as backing materials in the fabrication of various types of tufted surface coverings such as carpets and upholstery fabrics. For example, it is presently estimated that 65% of the primary backings used in tufted carpets are slit-woven polypropylene, 20% are spun-bonded polypropylene nonwovens, and only 15% is jute. Although at the present time almost all secondary carpet backing is jute, the increased cost of jute and its many undesirable properties as compared with polyolefin material presages replacement with polyolefin. However, despite their many advantages over jute, polyolefin backing materials are notoriously resistant to dyeing. Surface coverings incorporating such backings therefore exhibit "grin-through", the undesirable visibility of the polyolefin backing when the tufted surface covering is creased or bent back upon itself. Grinning is especially pronounced in shag carpeting when there is a mismatch between coloration of the backing and the face yarns.